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Hong Kong jails prison guard over assault on inmate: Media

China steps up protection for chip designs in revised regulations

The rules cover detailed layouts that determine how components are arranged within a chip, designs that can reflect substantial engineering work and are central to semiconductor development even for companies that do not manufacture chips themselves.

China cues start of secretive annual leadership retreat

Beijing does not publicly confirm the gathering, but in a sign that it had begun, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s chief of staff and close aide Cai Qi on Aug 3 met scholars in Beidaihe in northern Hebei province.

Seoul issues first ‘severe heatwave warning’ under new advisory system

People cooling off in Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul during a heatwave on Aug 3.

China’s largest chipmaker CXMT plans second plant in Beijing, is in talks on funding, sources say

The move comes as CXMT seeks to boost production amid a global chip shortage driven by AI infrastructure spending.

South Korea’s military counter-intelligence command reform takes shape but concerns remain

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (fifth from left) and other officials unveiling a plaque for the new Defense Counterintelligence Agency in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi province, on Aug 3.

China evacuates residents as heavy downpours hit country’s north-west and south-west

A screengrab from a video released on July 26 showing flooded streets in Puning, in China’s Guangdong province, after Typhoon Noul brought heavy torrential rain.

2 victims of Kumamoto mall explosion told by employer to return to store after evacuation

Habita representatives admitted that the company instructed the victims to return to the store after they had already evacuated the building after the earthquake.

Kumamoto quake survivors offered hotel shelter as temperature in prefecture reach record 40 deg C

People bring disaster debris to a temporary collection site in Kumamoto prefecture.

Record heatwave spreads across Korean peninsula, prompting emergency response

A boy cools off in a fountain during a heatwave in Seoul on July 31.

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MDDI (P) 046/10/2025. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No.202120748H. Copyright © 2026 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.